Experienced lawyers note that it is important to know how to draw up a report on the flooding of an apartment, because in the future this will have a direct impact on the compensation process, because this document:
- is evidence of the fact of flooding, which was established with the participation of the service organization and other witnesses
- indicates objective damage and is the basis for the formation of claims to the guilty party
- a necessary element for conducting an independent assessment of damage after the flood and filing a claim in court
The initial stage of compensation for damage from the flood and restoration of violated rights is the preparation of a flood report, a sample of which you can find later in the article. It is worth noting that without an inspection report, it is much more difficult to compensate for damage. On the beginning day, we recommend downloading and reading the Application for the Bay to the Management Company (WORD)
Why is it needed?
In the event that the room itself (its ceiling, walls, floor) or the property located in it was damaged as a result of water leakage from the top floor or from an adjacent room, a flood report is drawn up. The document is required for the following purposes:
- It records the damage caused during the flood and is evidence.
- On its basis, in a pre-trial settlement, you can receive compensation from the culprit.
- If it is not possible to resolve the matter amicably, the act becomes the basis of a claim filed in court.
- If there is an agreement on damage insurance, then only with the help of the act can you achieve payments.
- If the premises are used by a legal entity paying taxes, then the act will become one of the grounds for accounting to take into account the costs incurred for restoration (for example, as accelerated depreciation of equipment) - and reflect them in accordance with the Tax Code of the Russian Federation when calculating income tax.
Important! According to Art.
1064 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the causer of damage (no matter whether he acted consciously or did not take care of his property) must compensate everything in full.
Valuation of the management company
The management company assesses the damage based on the drawn up report. The inventory includes the work that needs to be done to repair the damage. It also includes the price of damaged furniture, appliances, and the costs of putting the room in order.
A representative of the management company inspects the affected areas, studies the causes and results of the flood, and records the total amount of damage in his report. This document is then presented to the guilty party for compensation. The victim has the right to involve independent experts in the assessment, and also include lost profits in the amount of payments.
Who is present when the document is created?
In addition to the representative of the person using the premises, when drawing up the act there are:
- Representative of the company that owns the building.
- Representative of the owner or user of the premises from which the leak occurred. If one is not found, the act is drawn up without his participation, but the absence of the culprit is noted in the document.
- Witnesses. The law does not say anything about them - but in practice it is extremely desirable that when drawing up the act there were at least two people who do not have their own interest in this matter (employees of companies occupying neighboring premises, casual visitors, etc.).
Determining the culprit
If the leak occurred due to improper actions or breakdowns in the room above, then the culprit is its rightful owner. If the building is completely non-residential, but it has an owner, then he will be the culprit.
If a retail or other space is leased from the state, then the culprit should be determined after a technical inspection of the entire building, recording damage and conducting an examination.
Important! If the culprit of the flood cannot be determined, a note about this is made in the act.
General content
The law does not say anything regarding how the act is drawn up and what exactly should be indicated in it. However, in practice, a number of content requirements have been developed for its preparation. According to them, the act states:
- Title of the act.
- Place and time of compilation.
- Composition of persons participating in the execution of the act.
- Cause of flooding. If it was not identified during the inspection, then a note is made in the report that an expert commission is convening to determine the causes of the leak.
- Damage found during inspection.
- Signatures of the parties involved in drawing up the document.
This is just a sample structure. If necessary, the act may contain additional clauses concerning both the persons who took part in the inspection, the conditions of the inspection, or the procedure for assessing damage caused to the property of the injured party.
Who calculates the amount of compensation?
Despite regulations obliging service organizations to assess the amount of compensation, they refuse to assume such responsibility and refer victims to appraisers who meet the following requirements:
- Are members of the SRO of appraisers
- Have a specialized higher education or professional retraining
- Insured for more than RUR 300,000
- Have a qualification certificate for the assessment of movable and immovable property
For an estimate, you can contact us by phone, or leave your contact information and we will call you back.
Causes of the accident
The reasons given in the report depend on what exactly happened. For example, the reasons for flooding of non-residential premises may be:
- Careless handling of elements of the water supply system, heating system, etc. located in the room above.
- Structural defect of the tap, battery, etc.
- Destruction of public infrastructure, for which the user of the premises where the flood began is not responsible.
Note! Regardless of what is stated in the report, the culprit can dispute the reason. Therefore, the main thing is to focus on describing the damage.
In any case, accurately determining the causes of flooding will require the involvement of a specialist who understands the communications system.
Claim
A claim is a document that allows for a pre-trial settlement of a controversial situation, i.e. obtain compensation for material damage without going to court. The legislation of the Russian Federation gives the injured party the right to present a claim to the culprit in the prescribed manner.
In what case is it issued?
After signing the flood report and assessing the damage caused, the person responsible for the accident must compensate for all losses from the irretrievable loss of property, expenses for property restoration and repairs of the premises, as well as other losses, for example, caused by the entrepreneur not receiving a profit as a result of forced downtime.
If the guilty party avoids settlement, then the first step should be an attempt to peacefully resolve the conflict by filing a claim.
Where to send?
The claim can be sent to any culprit - the management company, service organization, government agency-lessor, individual (neighbor). The best option is registered mail with return receipt requested. You can present the claim in person, but then the 2nd copy must have the recipient’s signature and date. When sending to an official body, it is advisable to also receive an incoming registration number.
How to write a complaint?
The claim must be made in writing in 2 copies. There is no legalized form of the document, but a recommended sample can be downloaded on the Internet. The document must contain the following points:
- Information about the culprit and his address.
- Information about the injured party.
- Information about the incident (date, consequences), given on the basis of the flooding report.
- The amount of damage based on the report of an appraiser or the amount of actual repair costs incurred.
- The essence of the requirement.
- Procedure for compensation of damage, method of payment.
We do not recommend completing the documents yourself. Save time - contact our lawyers by phone:
8 (800) 302-76-94
Repairs carried out at the expense of the guilty party may be counted as eliminating the consequences of a flood.
What to do if the culprit does not want to accept the demands?
If the claim is ignored, this means that the culprit does not want to end the conflict peacefully. Next, the victim must go to court at the place of registration of the plaintiff.
The following documents must be attached to the statement of claim:
- plaintiff's identity card;
- title document for the premises or lease agreement;
- act of flooding the premises;
- report of an appraiser with the amount of damage;
- photographic evidence;
- a copy of the claim sent to the culprit;
- payment document confirming payment of state duty.
The type of court depends on the amount of the claim. The magistrate considers cases where the damage does not exceed 50,000 rubles. If the amount of the claim exceeds 50,000 rubles, then the case is considered by a city or district court. Typically the review process takes from 50 to 90 days.
After the decision is made, you are given 30 days to file an appeal. Further, the implementation of the decision falls under the control of bailiffs.
To avoid conflict situations with residents of apartment buildings, as well as to exclude claims from government agencies, it is necessary to comply with the rules of ownership and use of non-residential premises in apartment buildings. Read our articles about the peculiarities of setting tariffs and calculating payments for electricity and heating, about the maintenance and resource supply of non-residential premises, about the rules for paying for utilities, the maintenance of common areas and local areas, and also find out whether owners should pay for major and current repairs , what is management of non-residential premises and how to conclude an agreement with a cleaner.
How to prove that a complaint was ignored?
The court will not consider the claim without an attempt to peacefully resolve the conflict. That is why it is necessary to prove that the culprit ignored the claim. To do this, the 2nd copy of the document must have the date and signature of the recipient. When sent by mail, a postal notification of delivery of a registered letter to the addressee is attached. If the claim was handed to the neighbor in person, it is advisable to have witnesses.
Flooding of non-residential premises can cause significant losses to its owner or tenant. The damage can be fully compensated if the culprit of the accident can be identified through legal means. To resolve the issue, a report is drawn up and a damage assessment is carried out. If the guilty party refuses to compensate for the damage caused, the final decision is made by the court.
Types of filling
The official form for the flooding report has not been approved at the legislative level. Therefore, you can fill it out in the following ways:
- If the company servicing the building has pre-prepared forms, fill out the form.
- Handwritten on a regular piece of paper.
- In electronic form, followed by printing and signatures of the persons participating in the inspection of the premises.
All options are equivalent, provided that the act contains all the necessary information. The act itself should usually be drawn up within no more than 12 hours from the moment the user of the premises discovered flooding and contacted the service company or emergency service.
If during the inspection photo or video recording of damage was carried out, a record of this should be made in the report. themselves are attached to the act and can be certified by the signature of witnesses.
How to draw up a bay act
The service company's commission inspects the apartment after the filling and draws up a document in any written form, since there is no single, normatively defined format. However, in the Apartment Filling Certificate of the management company, housing office, housing department or housing owner, the following elements must be indicated:
1) The composition of the commission, which may include:
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2) Documentary evidence of flooding with the following indicators:
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3) Indication of the reasons for the flood, specifying the following details:
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| 4) Establishing the relationship between the violations found and the damage caused to the apartment |
| 5) The document must be signed by all members of the commission |
| 6) Refusal to sign by one of the inspection participants is recorded in the document with a corresponding entry |
| 7) The flood damage report must be approved by the seal of the service company (chief engineer or director of the housing organization) indicating the date of inspection of the flooded apartment |
Damage calculation
The total cost of damage consists of moral damage and deterioration of the physical condition of the items. As a rule, appraisers determine material damage. In fact, the funds that will have to be spent on restoring property are equal to the amount of material damage. Here you can also use two options:
- Repair . In this case, the damage is equal to the cost of the repair, of course, if it returns the equipment and other property to its former functionality.
- Complete replacement . Although the victim will have to buy new property, the original market value will be taken into account, taking into account depreciation. Although wear and tear will not be taken into account if the equipment is new.
Naturally, ordinary housing office employees are unlikely to be able to accurately determine the amount of damage. Therefore, in the case of expensive equipment and repairs, it is better to turn to independent experts.
Moral damage
The law allows any applicant to demand compensation for moral damages from the culprit. This is explained by the fact that flooding causes a certain discomfort and anxiety. The victim must contact the management company to draw up a report and file a claim in court. It is quite logical that for such inconveniences he has the right to receive some compensation.
However, to do this, the court must prove that he subsequently caused significant trouble. For example, the owner of a flooded apartment was pregnant, or the flooding occurred during a period of illness. Excellent evidence would be a medical report, for example, that the injured party’s psychological state has significantly deteriorated. Although absolutely all victims can count on compensation. Here everything will depend on the skills of the lawyer.
How to assess moral damage
As a rule, the amount of moral damage is determined by the amount that was spent on calming the nerves. Often, when a person learns about flooding, his health may deteriorate. For example, money spent on treating a nervous breakdown will be considered moral damages. There are situations when the owner of a damaged apartment has a heart ache. Due to increased humidity, colds or more serious lung diseases may appear. But in court it will be necessary to prove that all this happened precisely because of the flooding. Of course, you can receive moral damage, but you should not count on large sums. Often the treatment itself costs more than the compensation awarded by the court.
Sources
- https://svoe.guru/nezhilaya-sobstvennost/nezhiloe-pomeshhenie/akt-zatopleniya.html
- https://urexpert.online/nedvizhimost/nezhilaya/pravila-polzovaniya/zatoplenie-i-protechka.html
- https://urist.expert/kvartira/zatoplenie/nezhilogo-pomeshheniya.html
- https://pravosudie.guru/nedvizhimost/nezhilaya/pravila-polzovaniya/zatoplenie-i-protechka.html
- https://aktinfo.com/akt-o-zatoplenii-kvartiry/
